Both versions of Nokia N81 have been in the spotlight ever since their official announcement at the Nokia Go Play Event in London back than in August. The air is getting thick with anticipation, as N81 seems to have earned quite a lot of fans. No wonder with a specs sheet like this, though we know better than taking anything for granted. After all, the question is whether performance cashes the checks written by the specs. Besides, we just couldn’t wait to play a few games and see if those dedicated keys are worth the fuss.

Picture perfect:-When we speak about phones, a 2.4″ inch display is well worth a praise. With N81 and the N-Gage gaming experience it offers, the 2.4″ display with 16M colors and QVGA resolution seems the spot-on choice. The display on Nokia N81 has great sunlight legibility, incredible picture quality and is large enough for everyone to see. You can hardly want any more even in this price range.

Get yourself connected:-Connectivity is definitely among the Nokia N81 priorities. A microUSB port is in charge of cable connections. If you do not have the required cable, you can always rely on Bluetooth v2.0 or Wi-Fi. In addition, there is a rich choice of network selections – GPRS, EDGE and UMTS are all present. We felt sorry that HSDPA has been missed out this time, but we could live with it, having all those alternatives at hand. The N81 8GB lacks a card slot too but, as we see it, card readers are rarely used for transferring data from and to a mobile, so it is not a big deal.

Reviewing the Nokia N81 was fun, except for the short periods when it got on our nerves with its awkward D-pad. Having in mind that some of its disadvantages will be fixed, we think a strong and able Symbian device is joining up the ranks. A screen of this size is not so often seen, while its gaming powers add up to a really exciting gadget. There’s no doubt however that the N81 is quite a niche product, even if it’s not as outspokenly eccentric as its N-gage siblings. It’s worth considering how many people will be tempted by the rich smartphone functionality and turned down by the excessively youthful image of the gaming-happy N81. The hefty price tag is no surprise but i

t may cause many to think twice before choosing a Nokia N81 over N95 for example. If you ask us, we’ll definitely go for the N95, never mind its inadequate battery. Plus, the N81 is the game-centered device in the N-series, but many of its teammates are compatible with the N-gage games anyway.

Siddartha is a Blogger from India. He is currently working as a Java Front End developer and he loves writing about tutorials, technology, algorithm, etc. You can follow him on Twitter | Facebook | Google+.
You can subscribe to GadgetCage RSS Feed or Email Notifications.